The Union Cabinet will take up the new Companies Bill for consideration on Thursday, minister for corporate affairs M Veerappa Moily told Hindustan Times. Mahua Venkatesh reports.

The Union Cabinet will take up the new Companies Bill for consideration on Thursday, minister for corporate affairs M Veerappa Moily told Hindustan Times. The finance and corporate affairs ministries had ironed out their differences over the bill, and the government, which wants to put most pending reforms on a fast track, is determined to table the bill in Parliament in the winter session, they said.

The bill had been earlier sent to the cabinet but it was not approved due to lack of clarity on some regulatory issues and the role of the market watchdog Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India).

“We have sorted out the issues and we are confident that the bill would be tabled in Parliament in the winter session,” a senior official at the ministry of corporate affairs told HT.

The bill seeks to promote greater shareholder democracy and better corporate governance, and has been pending clearance for the last two years.

The government is under the scanner for delaying key financial sector reforms that could boost growth, especially at a time when the economy is under fire on several fronts such as high inflation, falling rupee, widening fiscal and trade deficits.

“The passage of the bill in Parliament would salvage some lost ground for the government and come as relief for corporate India,” an official said.